Comics UK

Yesterday I acquired issues 1 (Mar. 4 1922) to 60 (Apr. 21 1923) of The Rover, in very good condition indeed. If I were to say I'm over the moon, it would be very much an understatement.

This French comic Lisette is mine! From 24th February 1963, number 8 - though I've found images of issues from 1950 and 1960 online, so maybe numbering started afresh each year. A 32 page mix of comic strips (themes: swimming, circus, historical, animals, sailing, school), text stories, articles, letters, and photo features on young film stars; nice paper, quite a lot of colour inside.

Coincidentally I picked up a couple of Lisettes dated 21 and 28 Juin 1964 from a local market stall last week. As they are no's 25 and 26 it looks as though the comic must have been divided into yearly volumes like Eagle and Look In. (I got a handful of other French and Italian titles at the same time - all for 50p each).

- Phil Rushton

I didn't buy them recently but I have been going through crates of my comics and writing them into an A4 pad for transferring to a spreadsheet checklist - last night I discovered I have a complete set of Buzz - with quite a few doubles - just need to get them all together to make one set of the best condition copies.

stevezodiac wrote:I didn't buy them recently but I have been going through crates of my comics and writing them into an A4 pad for transferring to a spreadsheet checklist - last night I discovered I have a complete set of Buzz - with quite a few doubles - just need to get them all together to make one set of the best condition copies.

I keep all my comics in a spreadsheet. It's an incredibly satisfying experience... part of the joy of buying a comic is putting it into the spreadsheet.

Jon wrote:I keep all my comics in a spreadsheet. It's an incredibly satisfying experience.

I find cupboards and shelves adequate. The comics I haven't got that I still want are listed on one, easy-to-consult A4 sheet of paper.

Phoenix wrote:The comics I haven't got that I still want are listed on one, easy-to-consult A4 sheet of paper.

...Given your recent purchase you might be able to fit them on an A5 sheet from now on!

While not in the same league as the first 60 issues of The Rover I was pleased to pick up the item shown below from a local market stall this morning.



...As far as I can tell it's only the second Wizard Book which would have gone on sale about the same time as the first Dandy Monster Comic (if not the year before). £3 was a bit more than I'd normally pay for something like this but the condition is surprisingly good.

Anybody know who drew the cover?

- Phil Rushton

philcom55 wrote:£3 was a bit more than I'd normally pay for something like this but the condition is surprisingly good. Anybody know who drew the cover?

Charles 'Chick' Gordon. It is the 1937 annual and at £3 it's a snip.

philcom55 wrote:...Given your recent purchase you might be able to fit them on an A5 sheet from now on!

It doesn't work quite that way, Phil. As I already had photocopies of them all, I didn't actually need them, so they weren't on my Wants List. I just couldn't resist those actuals, though. Even so, I only need 64 issues of The Rover to complete the full run from 1922 to 1973. As I already have every issue of The Hotspur and The Skipper, when I find the elusive 106 issues of Adventure, the 114 issues of The Wizard, 17 more issues of The Vanguard and 1 of The Red Arrow, I'll have the lot. It might just be manageable. In the meantime, I do know exactly what is in all my missing issues as I have taken copious notes on them, and some scans, from the bound volumes in the British Library.

I presume the Rovers you need are really early ones? As i mentioned before I recently picked up a couple of hundred from the 1950s at ten shillings apiece so if you have any missing from that era I might have them. They had some more in the shop (Junk Shop at Greenwich) as well as some of the 60s text story issues.

stevezodiac wrote:I presume the Rovers you need are really early ones? As i mentioned before I recently picked up a couple of hundred from the 1950s at ten shillings apiece so if you have any missing from that era I might have them.

You are quite right, Steve, that it's early issues I'm after. The latest is 826 (Feb. 12 1938). I only need seven in the thirties. Most missing issues are in 1923 and 1924. Thank you for your interest nevertheless. I do appreciate it.

Doesn't 10/- sound an awful lot more than 50p?

Well when 10 bob notes were around it would have bought you 40 copies of the Beano against a third of a copy now.

Very pleased that this eBay purchase arrived. It's a Desperate Dan charity collection box, I'm guessing from the mid/late 80s.

I remember that! Used to see them in the 90s.

I can remember a lifeboats one too, and perhaps a Dennis one but I'm not sure. They'd be on the counters in some small newsagents/corner shops, as well as Sea Life centres and sometimes the customer canteens of supermarkets (back when they were good)